Doug Owen's Sculptures

During a recent visit to Columbia, Missouri I captured my entry for this week's Yard Art Thursday. On one of the busiest intersections in the city, across the street from a large shopping mall, we discovered a herd of horse sculptures (made from salvaged materials) grazing on the lawn in front of the Landmark Bank on Stadium Blvd. Needless to say, we parked and wandered through the display. I was fascinated by the assortment of items I could identify in the sculptures and the way the artist incorporated them into his work.




Since it was a Sunday afternoon, I was unable to go into the bank for more information. I have since talked with the bank manager and learned the chairman of the bank, Mark Landrum, is a lover and supporter of both the arts and horses. When he discovered the artwork of Doug Owen which combined both his interests, Mr. Landrum decided to make Mr. Owen's horses the signature feature in front of all of his bank's branches located in three states; Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. There are three branches in Columbia and each has at least one of these horse sculptures. But, the facility located on Stadium Blvd is the largest and it started with four horses a few years ago and has since added four more. I was told that one of the banks in Oklahoma has even more than that.



During my research I also learned the following:

Doug Owen's work can be found in several art galleries across the country including one in Kansas City. After several calls to the galleries I learned that the cost of one of these steeds is between twenty and thirty thousand dollars.
Besides the life size horses Mr. Owen also makes colts and ponies.
Landmark Bank is the largest private collector of Doug Owen's work.
A wonderful video of the artist discussing his work, plus a bio of the artist can be found here.
Some great photos of the process of creating these sculptures and the finished work can be found here.

Mary T. at the Work of the Poet host Yard Art Thursday. To check out the yard art discovered by others visit Mary and her friends at Work of the Poet.